A Shadow on the Glass: The View From the Mirror Quartet, Book 1

The main characters endure much hardship, and the reader travels alongside them, page by page, as one conflict leads to another. This is a book of heroic struggle, not a quick and easy plot that slides into a resolution. It is actually a wonderfully detailed journey to savor.There is a large cast of characters, all of them realistically flawed in some way. The story unfolds gradually enough that the reader can track most of the characters, so at the grand finale, the names have meaning. However, one frustration with the writing is that point-of-view changes can happen in the middle of a paragraph.Another frustration with this first book is that it ends in chaos. There really isn’t any resolution. Everything is in a big mess. So much so that I feel I’ve lost any hope in any of the characters in getting their world straightened out. Everyone has made huge mistakes. The supposed bad guy is more confidence-inspiring than the supposed good guys. Everyone is exhausted from their ordeals, and so am I. Not sure I have the stamina to sort through another book of political scheming, historical propaganda, the characters getting caught and escaping (almost) over and over again, the fight scenes, and so little humor and romance.

If you like vast worlds - intricate story lines - conflicting priorities - flawed heroes - then you will love these books. I am a huge fan of this series - not because I'm an Aussie - but because the author builds a world of complexity and delight that few writers achieve.Ian Irvine creates realistic scenarios for "why" things happen - yes there are goodies and baddies, this is the genre ... but the baddies have good reasons for their actions ... and sometimes the goodies ... well ... aren't always good. So in others words this is not a world where everything is Right or Wrong - Black or White as a hue of grey colours many of the characters - which is what makes them believable. Very much a study in human studies. It is easy to "imagine" yourself as a great warrior ... easier still to "connect" with characters showing the desires and flaws you see around you every day.There are many great fantasy books - I hope you will rate these amongst yours.

A tiny redheaded sensitive woman sets off with an acquaintance across several countries to rescue a very important mirror. The mirror has Magic quantities and is being hunted by several entities. War is on the verge. It's just a simple B&E to get the mirror away from the leader that stole it. These two women set off with no major plan, almost no food, and somehow find the mirror. Then everything goes downhill. You read it..... you puzzle on it......then you decide who should have the mirror....... now did you guess turn out right? Do you have any strength left after following Karan through all the adventures she has while trying g to get the mirror to safety and who should she give it too?

I read this book years ago and loved it. I still do. I have one problem with the kindle version though. I wanted to reread it but left my paper copy in another state so I decided to purchase the kindle version. Almost immediately I noticed some strange typos. Whatever software they are using to scan the text and convert it for kindle has a problem. There are frequent typos throughout the book. They are very distracting. I have noticed many cases where 'that' appears as 'mat', 'the' as 'die' etc.It isn't just with small words like those. Punctuation is missing, random letters are missing from words. Someone really should have read through this before they put it up on Amazon.Other than that it's a good book that I'd recommend to anyone who loves a good story.

I read this series years and years ago and loved it. When I saw the first book was free (and the rest of the series was discounted) on Kindle I picked them up immediately. Amazing books!Keep in mind that these 4 books were actually one work that the publisher forced Irvine to release as separate volumes. Basically it got the LOTR treatment. I noticed some reviewers unfairly criticizing the pacing, and I feel if some of them knew this going in they'd have been less critical and been able to enjoy this masterpiece for what it is.

The idea for the story line is pretty good. However the book itself is just OK. It is meant to be an epic fantasy. The book needs work mostly editing for misspelled or wrong words. The author uses a lot of archaic language as well that was a little confusing at times. The plot had a lot of sameness to it with lots of running from enemies. I kept reading hoping to find the climax and resolution to at least part of the story. It was disappointing for the climax to be glossed over and then the book just stops with no resolutions.

Great story and some creative but plausible world building make this a good read; but the fifth star (which I rarely give) comes for the characters, real adults with conflicting motives, foibles and some very reluctant heroism. I noticed other reviewers criticising the pace, but I enjoyed the journey. It's a big book, but I read it through as fast as mundane allowed. There are sequels, and I bet they are absorbing too. If you haven't already guessed, highly recommended !

I really enjoyed this book . At times it seemed the author got stuck in the big of adjectives, more than satisfactorily describing locations. It held the book back at times perfume feeling depressed and desiring to skip long drawn out parts.

I first read this series (out of order, having read well of echoes first :p) as a teen, now as a mum I have parted with my hard copies, but was glad to find these affordable on kindle store. Im now re-reading and it's just as good as before. If I remember correctly, the series is still unfinished :P so fingers crossed the last book will be available by the time I finish the existing books again haha

This was always my favourite fantasy read, and when the CD came out i got that too and is really worth listening too.

For those who have enjoyed Game of thrones this is well worth the time to read. Very entertaining, easy to read and well paced so much that I had trouble putting it down.

I expect a great read from ian and he once again delivers. You really get drawn into the lives of the characters amd feel every ounce of pain they do